The availability of Internet numbers in IPv4 used across the globe for ISPs, businesses, education and other institutions is dwindling down and according to the powers that be that keep track of those numbers, they have reached critically low levels.

According to the Number Resource Organization (NRO), the range of available numbers left in IPv4 around the world is down to only 10 percent. The NWO warns this shortage could eventually lead to Internet access stagnation and strongly encourages organizations to switch to IPv6.

NRO chairman Axel Pawlik said during an interview with ZDNet UK this week:

The limited IPv4 addresses will not allow us enough resources to achieve the ambitions we all hold for global internet access. The deployment of IPv6 is a key infrastructure development that will enable the network to support the billions of people and devices that will connect in the coming years.

At only 10 percent availability Pawlik estimates that all IPv4 numbers could be depleted by the year 2012. He admits, however, that unfortunately businesses are slow to convert to IPV6 because of costs and engineering time:

There are funny characters in there [rather than just numbers] and IPv6 addresses are longer, but engineers are going to have to get over that. It is really about securing the future.

Pawlik has a point. Once all the IPv4 numbers are taken by others, they are gone unless someone wants to give one up. Then we will be forced to convert to IPv6 if we want to make new connections to the Internet. So his plea to make people start to think more about IPv6 is a good one, albeit I don’t think the message is getting out there.

Sadly I have a feeling that the message may be already too late. With estimates showing IPv4 numbers running out in 2012, unless major corporations start making the switch to IPv6 to slow down the depletion on IPv4, we could have an Internet access crisis, which may lead to governments around the world forcing a switch.

Let’s hope not. We all know how well the government mandated switch to digital television signals went in the US.